Daily Archives: April 17, 2015

Spoiler free review: Daredevil is Marvel television at its best. Go watch this series, now.

Daredevil looks and feels like a great comic book. A friend asked me why I liked this series so much, and I had to consider how to explain it. I told her, “Watching each episode feels like holding my most highly anticipated book in my hand, reading it for the first time after an agonizing wait.”

The fight scenes are a standout aspect of the series. The choreography is well executed but doesn’t feel over the top. This is just men fighting: No gods, no superpowers, no magic hammers, just street fighting, and it feels like it. Each bout is brutal, but realistic and the consequences are immediately felt.

The characters have a depth I find refreshing. Take Matt Murdock, for example. I was worried when I first saw the promos for this series; I didn’t think Charlie Cox looked the part. Five minutes into the first episode and I was sold. He has a presence, an awareness about him that screams. ‘I’m Daredevil.’ Foggy is a great character, adding humor and perspective to the show that’s just fun to watch. Fisk especially has deep layers: His interactions with Vanessa show he’s more than just a villain. In his mind, he wants to make NYC into something more. He’ll do everything possible to make it great, and put himself in the ultimate position of power at the same time.

The show’s greatest feature is the interpersonal connections. It does what no other show out there is doing, that is, using the down time to develop the personality of each character. No matter if it’s Foggy and Karen, Fisk and Vanessa, Matt and Claire, Matt and Fr. Lantom, or Matt and Stick, the conversations add a depth that makes you actually care about what’s going on.

Daredevil gets compared to Arrow frequently. Daredevil is what Arrow should be. Everything Arrow gets wrong, Daredevil goes out of its way to get right.

Check out Comics Podcast of the Damned #5 for Jim and Myself’s indepth review of Daredevil.